CT responds to "When evangelicals were pro-choice"
- 4 views
As I read this CT piece, I was reminded of Dr. Varner’s blog the other day when he discussed what the Didache had to say about abortion. While it’s not Scripture, it certainly reveals that (at least some) ancient Christians were quite opposed to abortion.
M. Scott Bashoor Happy Slave of Christ
The late R B Theime is the only “evangelical” that I know of that had what I would view as an aberrant view of the beginning of human life.
The WIKI article has a section that addresses:
In his book The Origin of Human Life, Thieme argued that the Bible teaches human life begins at birth, not conception. Through his analysis of Greek and Hebrew grammar, direct statements of Scripture, and use of doctrinal rationales, Thieme taught that there is no human life in a fetus, and that it doesn’t become a living human being until the point of birth. Thieme asserted that a fetus has biological life, including reflex motility, and what he termed a “format soul”, but does not become a living human being until God provides soul life as the fetus emerges from the womb in birth.
Thieme called Roe v. Wade “one of the wisest and most brilliant decisions that the Supreme Court has made in many years” and said that “abortion is a decision between a patient and her doctor.” Regardless of how they felt about this emotionally charged issue, Thieme taught his congregation to never engage in civil disobedience against those associated with the practice of abortion.
Discussion